


Summer tales of family and lovers

by Veruca_Cruz



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sherlock Challange, Sherlock challenge may 2017, Sherlock coming out, less sad than the tags imply
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 12:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11036340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veruca_Cruz/pseuds/Veruca_Cruz
Summary: Some insight on the relationship between Sherlock and his father.





	Summer tales of family and lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Siger has a French mother and is called Marie. She is therefore Sherlock's grandmother or Grand-mère.  
> Sherlock hasn't switched to his second name and still goes by William.
> 
> This is my contribution to the Sherlock Challenge May 2017.
> 
> Story not betaed or brit-picked.

„Do you want to tell me, what this was all about?” Siger Holmes asked, as he stood in front of his 15 year old son. 

William ignored him. He had fled into the shadows of the massive oak tree in the back yard and stared resolutely ahead. The split lip and the bruise on his cheekbone stung like hell. And they told a story of their own. 

„It's not every day, that one of my sons gets dropped off by the police,” Siger continued. 

William tried to keep his composure. Fury swept through him. This summer was like hell. Usually, they should be in Montpellier at his grandmother's, bathing in the Mediterranean Sea and being a decent distance away from his peers. Just because his mother had to stay at the University over summer to prepare for a big grant and Mycroft gained an internship at the British Embassy in Canada, the family tradition of the summer holidays in France got suspended. He was stuck here with his father in boring England; and with the stupid neighbour boys and nothing to do. 

The only place to escape was the small lake 2 miles away, where everyone his age not on holiday spent their days to avoid the heat.

And there it had started. 

xxx

Earlier that day:

He hadn't realized that he looked longer than proper at Jason. Jason was a blonde, easy-going, sporty bloke and he was changing into his swimming trunks. And well – William stared. He came back to reality as stupid Ethan started to giggle and mock him. „Billy is bent, I knew it. Billy is a queer.“ Soon the others of his group joined him. They shouted at him, if he sucked cock, if he was the woman in the relationship, if he liked it up the ass. 

First, he tried to just get away. But they circled around him and pushed and pulled him till he got dizzy. He started to push pack. But then, Ethan had grabbed him between his legs, and William lost it. He punched Ethan's face. They started fighting in earnest. While Ethan was bigger, William was able to match him with speed and agility. Into the forth or the fifth blow, he was pulled off Ethan. The local police officer Constable Matthews hold them both by the neck and separated them by force. 

„Boys, whatever this is about, today is not the time. Cool down.” Matthews was a father of three boys, and never took the quarrels really serious. He took it upon himself to sometimes drive by the lake to keep an eye on the local youth. And during summer time he and his partner often intervened when tempers rose too high or alcohol was consumed by minors. 

William and Ethan were still furious but knew better to engage further. 

„I think, you both should apologize, then I will take you home for today,” Matthews spoke resolutely. Both knew that obedience was better than the alternative and an insincere apology was uttered. Ethan sported a black eye and bruises on his neck, William felt an aching on his cheekbone and tasted the blood of the split lip.

Matthews first dropped off Ethan at home. William tried to argue, that he could walk, but Matthews refused to let him go. William's father and Constable Matthews knew each other. Of course his dad would learn about the incident. 

As soon as the police car stopped in front of the Holmes' residence, William fled the car and ran toward the oak tree in the garden. He felt deeply humiliated. 

William knew that girls were not his cup of tea. He acknowledged early on that he was gay and he had never really doubted that. But he also saw, how homosexuals were treated: The society mocked and excluded them, the law discriminated them. He already had sworn to himself, that he would not be a victim. He would just keep to himself, stay celibate - Mind over matter. 

But today, he was captivated by the looks of Jason. He detested himself for that slip. He had to do better. What would his parents say? Mycroft would ridicule him for showing his weakness, of course. His mother would probably just shrug and quote some Shakespeare. The upbringing of her children was by mutual agreement Siger’s job. His father would tell him something about manners and doing the right thing.

William decided to just not talk to his dad. And there he stood and waited for a response. 

„Constable Matthews told me what happened,” Siger tried again.

William just huffed and glared into the distance. He knew, he couldn't lie to his father. But he didn't want to tell him anything. He didn't want to get pity or some platitudes. He was not ready to 'come out'. He didn't even know, if he was interested in sex or partnership. He was fine alone. He just wanted to be in Montpellier; swimming in the sea, reading books in one of the university libraries, playing with grand-mère's dogs and eating French pastiches. 

„Do you at least want to tell me your side of the story?“ He still got no reaction from his son.

„Well,” Siger sat beside William. „I think I need to tell you a family story. It is a tale that my mother - your grand-mère - has forbidden to be told, because she still blames herself. But I think, she would understand.”

William just glared at his father. He hated family anecdotes. Sometimes he wished they couldn't trace their ancestry for at least 10 generations. His dad just smiled fondly. 

„Have you known that I had four uncles once?” William rolled his eyes. Of course he had known. He had seen the photos at his grandmothers. 

„But do you know how they died?”

„They have fallen in the second World War,” answered William petulantly.

„True, at least three-quarters of it,” Siger said. William looked up. 

„One uncle, Jean-Paul committed suicide,” Siger continued. „And grand-mère Marie still thinks it is her fault for not preventing it.”

„It's stupid from her, to blame herself. It wasn't her decision.” William said haughtily. 

„Well, your grand-mère Marie thinks differently about that,” Siger said and started to tell William about Jean-Paul. 

xxx

Jean-Paul was Marie's twin brother. He was very close to her. She soon caught up, that he was a little bit different from her three older brothers. He liked to dance and he loved his violin. He always took care of his appearances. And when he was 16 he fell in love with a 19 year old boy visiting from Paris. The liaison was found out, but the parents thought it just a folly. They sent him away to a very strict boarding school in England and everything was hushed up. 

After he graduated from school he stayed in England. He started to study chemistry in Oxford. Well, everybody thought, he studied chemistry, but in fact he studied arts. He had quite a talent for painting and playing his violin. At that time, it was just before the second world war, nearby London was quite modern and Jean-Paul often went there and led a bohemian lifestyle. Marie always covered for him, provided him even with chemistry papers and notes if necessary. Just to keep their parents happy. 

Jean-Paul visited France sparsely. Once he had to come to Montpellier because of the funeral of his mother. Otherwise he only visited on Christmas holidays. Four years long he had a beautiful time. Marie sometimes visited him in Oxford and went with him to London. She thought of her time with him as the best so far. Of course she reported to her father, what he wanted to hear: Jean-Paul was studying hard, he was a brilliant student, stayed in a small flat with a catholic housekeeper, and so on. It was fortunate that father wasn't fond of travelling. 

But after some years, the father found out. One day, Jean-Paul was seen by some people of the village that visited London. And the talk about him there confirmed their suspicions. They reported back to Montpellier and Jean-Paul was ordered back to France on father’s insistence. The scandal was already on its way. The whole village was talking. To keep their face, the father pressured Jean-Paul into accepting a marriage with the vicar’s daughter. 

Jean-Paul argued with his father, Marie tried to convince him to let Jean-Paul go. But their father stayed hard. Jean-Paul even tried to run away, but he was only 20. So he was still under custody of his father and he was brought back by the police. One week before the wedding that should clear the family name, Jean-Paul woke Marie up early one morning and said good-bye. She then thought, he would try to run away again. 

Around lunch, she found a goodbye letter from him in his rooms stating his intentions. In the evening, they found his body on the beach. He had swum into the tide, till he had no strength left and drowned. 

xxx

After Siger told his tale, he made a short pause. 

„Marie was furious at her father. After her marriage to a British soldier, she cut her ties with the family and moved to England with him. I was never allowed to meet my grandfather and she never spoke a word with him again. He cut her out of his will. But fate is sometimes incomprehensible. All her other brothers died in the World War and no other relatives were left when he died. So in the end, she got the entire family heirloom anyway. 

After her husband, my father, died we went back to France. I was already 16 at that time. She bought some small cottages from her inheritance and converted them into holiday homes. She became infamous for renting them to gay couples. She often got into trouble for that.” Siger smiled fondly. “I never really knew, what she was up to then, because I went back to England to study, but she became friends with many people in the gay community.”

„Well, what I want to say: Whatever this was about. I love you and I want you to know, that I will support you and protect you the best I can. I would never pressure you into something or force you to deny yourself. I just want you to find happiness. And you know what Mummy says: People are stupid. We cannot always avoid them, but we can choose to not let them demean us.”

With that, Siger got up. He knew he would probably not get a response from his son the next hours. He was surprised, when William spoke up. „Can I go to France and visit grand-mère? I am old enough to go alone and I won't bother her.”

Siger thought about that. He sometimes forgot how fast his children were growing up. And if William was in France, perhaps he could convince Violet, to at least get away for a short trip to France, too. 

„Why not? I will talk to Mummy tonight,” Siger promised.

xxx

Two days later, William was on the train to Montpellier. He now would spend the next 6 weeks at his grand-mère's house. His parents would join him in the final week, too. 

While in the beginning, he thought of his summer holiday as the worst in history, it turned out to be one of the best. 

He had breakfast with his grand-mère and then helped her around the house. He did some chores in the big fruit orchard, helped grand-mère Marie with the bees or went for a walk with the dogs. After lunch he took off to the beach or to one of Montpellier's many libraries. The evening was spent with a light dinner and discussions with grand-mère Marie. She even allowed him some wine. It was a beautiful summer. 

The next year, William travelled again to France. Grand-mère was delighted to have him there again for 8 weeks. He was the only grandson to stay with here for such a long time. They fell into an easy camaraderie. She had broken her arm last winter and needed more help around the house. She also employed a student form the university to help her with the orchard. Jacques was funny, had long blonde hair and liked to do the work in the garden without his shirt. William was very shy around him. At the end of the holiday, William shared his first kisses with him. He thought, they kissed in secret; his Grand-mère however had a knowing smile afterwards.

 

The following year William was ecstatic to visit Montpellier. Grand-mère Marie welcomed him with open arms. That summer, they cleaned the attic. Marie found the old violin of Jean-Paul. She brought it to a violin maker to check it up. It was an old and valuable instrument. Marie insisted that it should be played and gave it as a present to William. He played it with all his heart and Marie sometimes thought she could glimpse Jean-Paul in William. Grand-mère Marie recommended some beaches and places for him to visit. From that moment on William knew he had her full support regarding his love life. The summer was spent in a lazy mood with some innocent flirting and kissing. 

The next Summer William fell head over heels in love with a piano student from Sweden. Victor was funny, with bleached blond hair, had beautiful green eyes and talented lips. William still helped his grand-mère every morning, but the afternoons and evenings he spent with Victor. It was a heated and adventurous love affair. William lost his innocence at the beach after a picnic in the glorious sunset. Grand-mère let him be on his cloud number nine until the last week of his stay. Then she insisted that William brought his 'chéri' along for dinner. They had a lovely time. When the summer came to an end, they both realized that their love had burned out. They parted without any malice and cherished the summer they had. 

The following summer was the last summer for him and grand-mère. Her health was deteriorating. He played the violin for her, when he could and did most of the chores in the house. His focus was solely on his grand-mère that let him be when he needed it most. She cherished 'her William' like no one else and he felt truly accepted. With a sad heart, he said goodbye at the end of the summer. 

One week later, she died. Her funeral meant an end to his easy summers. He always told his parents of his summer adventures in France and they were happy for him. They had seen the photos of his holiday and they didn’t bat an eye when he told them of Jacques or of Victor. His mother quoted Oscar Wilde. His father just smiled. His parents understood that William lost something treasured with the death of his grandmother. He didn't feel the lightness of William anymore. One evening, shortly before he went to Cambridge to study chemistry, he told his parents, that he no longer wanted to be called William. They agreed that he would be Sherlock from now on. If he was different regarding love, he could be so in name, too. 

Many years later, Sherlock returned to Montpellier for a case, his blogger John at his side. They stayed at his grandmother’s house, which was now his father’s. The fast solution of the case made it possible to enjoy a lazy week at the sea. Fond memories snuck up on Sherlock, and he subtly changed into the careless and more daring William again. He flirted like never before with John. At the end of the holiday, John wasn’t just his blogger and flatmate anymore. The next time, when Sherlock visited his parents, he took John along. His father just grinned and was happy for him. Mummy just told John to lay the table. Being part of the family meant that he could help with the household chores.

**Author's Note:**

> Some of the above is part of my family history. It took a long time for me to understand that “she went into the lake” was a euphemism for “she committed suicide by swimming so far out that her strength left her and she drowned.”
> 
> Also my great-grandmother had 4 sons and one daughter. All sons went to war, only one returned immediately, another came back years later. The fate of the other two was never discovered. 
> 
>  
> 
> About the love interests:  
> Jason – think about Chris Pine (The princess Diaries 2)  
> Jacques – a young Chris Hemsworth  
> Victor - ??? I think that one only exists in my mind.


End file.
